


at this moment, you mean everything

by goldbergvariation



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti)
Genre: Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, First Kiss, Five Years After Pennywise, Gay Eddie Kaspbrak, Gay Richie Tozier, Love Confessions, M/M, Minor Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Minor Bill Denbrough/Mike Hanlon, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Road Trips
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:13:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24785980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldbergvariation/pseuds/goldbergvariation
Summary: Maybe Richie Tozier had been tossing and turning all night, thinking about the days ahead of him. Of course, he was excited to spend time with all of his friends, all stacked into Bill's mom's van with no clue where they were headed, but he wasn't necessarily prepared for how much time he would spend with the boy he had sort of fallen in love with.Or, the Losers club go on a road trip, feelings are shared, and complicated situations (mostly) even themselves out.
Relationships: Beverly Marsh & Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Richie Tozier & Stanley Uris, The Losers Club & Richie Tozier
Comments: 20
Kudos: 29





	1. chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first public work for It & Reddie, so I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> the title is a lyric from come on eileen

Richie decided, right then and there, that the rest of the Losers club were so incredibly fucking stupid. And he had no clue what he would ever do without them.

Somehow, the majority of them had gotten permission to go on a huge road trip. Maybe it was because it was summer and everyone was sick of the generally hyper group of teens, or because they were all around 16 or 17 at that point so they had to be at least kind of responsible, or maybe because they had been vocal about how Bill Denbrough was the one to come up with the idea and all of their guardians liked Bill. Eddie was the only one who hadn’t gotten permission. Richie was certain they didn’t even try, knowing Mrs. K. They ended up lying to her, though Richie had no idea what the lie was.

Richie stood in his front doorway, staring in astonishment at the van in the road. Bill sat in the driver’s seat, considering he had borrowed the car from his mom. Mike was next to him with what appeared to be a pile of maps and other assorted papers. Richie could only see those two since Bill had rolled down his window to yell at Richie to hurry up and get in. He grabbed his backpack and waved subtly at his mother, an unspoken compromise so his friends couldn’t see and she wouldn’t complain. As he approached the sidewalk right next to the van, Bill started shouting more specific instructions.

“Go around b-back and throw your stuff in the t-trunk,” Bill said. “You’re sitting in the back r-row with Eddie, but we will change that if needed.”

Richie rolled his eyes dramatically but he did what Bill told him to, mainly because he knew he could potentially fuck up the entire beginning of the trip if he was more of a little shit than necessary. When he slammed the trunk closed, Bill yelled for him to go to the left side. Richie rounded the car and slid the door open. He saw Stan sitting all the way on the right in the middle row behind Mike and Eddie behind him. Richie knew Stan's placement was entirely intentional, considering the last time Bill drove them somewhere and Stan sat in the seat behind him, he kicked the chair whenever they were stopped, ultimately achieving his goal of annoying the shit out of Bill and being banned from sitting there permanently. 

Richie shoved himself into the back row, leaving a space between Eddie and himself. As comfortable as he was around Eddie, Richie was also hopelessly pining after him. He could only handle so much skin-on-skin contact with him at a time, and this was shaping itself up to be a long ass car ride. He quickly fastened his seat-belt before he got an Eddie lecture on the importance of car safety. Not that he would have minded one, really. Eddie had a nice voice.

“‘Ello, loves!” Richie loudly exclaimed in his poor British accent. It elicited groans from over half of the car, which only made it funnier to him. 

Soon, Bill started up the car again and asked Mike where to go next. Stan looked out of his window, seemingly trying to enjoy the peace as much as possible before everything turned to chaos. Eddie’s fingers thrummed against a bump-out for a cup holder in the wall, which meant he was undoubtedly nervous. Richie guessed it was something about inexperienced drivers and how gross the hotel rooms they were inevitably going to stay at would be. Either that, or Eddie was going through the entire plan for the trip in his head. All Richie knew about the itinerary was that they were gonna pick up Ben and Bev, drive for days until they were in the middle of bumfuck nowhere, and stop at some unknown location that Bill repeatedly swore was worth it, Mike nodding in agreement. Of course Mike was the only person Bill trusted enough to tell where they were going; those two had gotten really close ever since Pennywise, but especially over the past few months.

Richie kept quiet for a while after his initial obnoxious greeting. It was probably weird to his friends, but he was tired as fuck. He had thought that the road trip would be easy all the way through, but the night before his brain had kept him up for hours, agonizing over how close he would be to Eddie, how they would always end up together, whether it be because the others grouped them up or because they naturally gravitated towards each other, and how likely he was to fuck up and impulsively confess that he had be in love with Eddie since they were like 11, which was decidedly not good. He ended up getting approximately three and a half hours of sleep, which his body apparently decided to chuck out of the window considering how sleepy he still was.

After an amount of time that Richie couldn’t even begin to guess, he felt a nudge on his shoulder. He finally looked up from the pattern on the faux leather in front of him, meeting Eddie’s big, concerned eyes.

“You okay?” Eddie asked, his voice quiet but still loud enough to easily carry throughout the whole van. It was strangely silent, which Richie could only assume was because he only said one thing before shutting up and that was most certainly not normal.

“Hm? Yeah, just running on no sleep,” Richie replied. Stan whipped around, glaring at him. His entire expression screamed something along the lines of ‘If you don’t start taking better care of yourself, I can and will beat the shit out of you’, a sentiment that Richie wholeheartedly believed. He dodged Stan’s glare and turned back to Eddie, smirking. Eddie noticed the set-up to the joke, but he was too late to stop it. “Guess I spent too much time with your mother last night.”

“Shut the fuck up, Richie,” Eddie said. “That was so not funny.”

Eddie turned to the window. Richie never got Eddie to laugh at his your mom jokes, but sometimes, he did get him to smile a little in spite of himself. This was one of those times, and oh, did Richie revel in the small grin tugging at Eddie’s lips. He reluctantly moved his gaze from Eddie after a few seconds. As much as Richie wanted to stare at him all day, he knew that Bill was a responsible driver and would check his rear view mirror eventually, which Richie had no doubt he was visible in.

Instead, Richie leaned his head back, staring up at the car ceiling and trying to keep his eyes open. At some point in his attempt, he failed, though he had no idea when. He nodded off for a bit, waking up groggily when Ben sat in the seat in front of him. Everyone greeted him, barely including Richie.

He caught Eddie looking at him concerned again a bit later. Richie looked back, which got Eddie to start talking.

“I can’t believe you’re this dumb, you seriously need to work on your sleep schedule.” Stan whispered something to Ben, probably explaining the context to Eddie’s rant. “You know you’re supposed to get 8 hours a night, you’re gonna end up shaving so many years off of your life, you know that right? You’re going to bed as soon as we figure out sleeping arrangements tonight…” Eddie continued on while the others started their own conversations. Richie listened to Eddie, not so much listening to his words as much as just listening to the way he spoke. The annoyed worry in his voice, the moments he took to to breath before quickly picking up right where he was, the occasional frustrated noises at Richie’s apparent nonchalance before he realized that it wasn’t Richie ignoring him, it was Richie focusing on him more than he usually did. That calmed Eddie down fast, which was honestly disappointing since he stopped his rant after finishing his sentence.

“Do you wanna see if you can rest some more before we get Bev? After we do, I don’t think you’ll get a chance until everyone else is tired, too,” Eddie asked. Richie nodded his head. “God, sleeping in cars has got to be somehow dangerous…” That time, Eddie mumbled more to himself than anything. Richie mainly took it as nice background noise for his nap until he felt a hand around his upper arm. It was Eddie’s; no one else could reach there. The touch was warm and pleasant whenever Richie’s thoughts didn’t turn to panic because  _ why did Eddie grab his arm. _ He cracked his eye open, peering over at Eddie and hoping against hope that his face wasn’t overly red. Eddie saw him and merely muttered ‘precaution’, staring straight ahead. Richie let his eyes slide shut again.

Something about Eddie’s touch was even more comforting to Richie than his voice as he tried to take his last-minute nap. It was more personal, more… intimate. Richie would have melted at that thought if it wasn’t for his bones.

Some time passed before the van stopped again. Richie was vaguely aware of that, but he wasn’t brought back to full awareness until Eddie moved his hand off of his arm. Richie felt the loss immediately, even if it was a small touch that didn’t mean much to Eddie beyond trying to keep his friend alive. He sat up and blinked around the car. Ben had already slid over to make room for Bev.

“I c-can’t just honk at Bev’s house like the r-rest of your’s,” Bill sighed. No one really knew why that made sense, it just did. 

“So someone’s gonna have to knock on the door,” Mike said, looking around the car. Richie’s hand shot up automatically. No matter how much sleep he still felt in his entire body, he would never miss the opportunity to be the first to greet and annoy Bev. Mike nodded, though Richie was already pushing through the door to run up the path to Bev’s aunt’s house. He knocked on the door before his feet fully stopped moving and prepared his opening line.

He saw a shadow through the stained glass and heard the creaking of the door knob, and once the door opened enough to see Bev and her signature wild red locks and overjoyed expression, a smile broke out on Richie’s face.

“Package for Molly Ringwald?” Richie said through his grin. Bev scoffed and threw her arms around him. He happily returned the hug. Somehow, she was always a little bit taller than him no matter how much he grew.

“I’m so glad to see you, you little motherfucker!” Bev exclaimed, stepping back and grabbing Richie’s shoulders. “You got new glasses?”

“Good ol’ Maggie got tired of the tape!” Richie explained quickly. “Did you get an undercut?”

“Hell yeah, it looks cool!” Bev laughed and released Richie, grabbing his wrist and bounding over to the van. They clambered back into the car. Richie’s energy was back up to a ten, though he had no idea how long that could possibly last. He had to be running on pure adrenaline.

With Bev there, the car burst into life. The group was complete and the van was loud, various greetings and conversations happening at once. Richie sat up as straight as he could, determined to get in as much interaction was possible. At some point, everyone joined a single conversation.

“I still can’t believe I agreed to multiple days of driving in an enclosed space with all of you,” Stan said, nearly exasperatedly. “It’s gonna be so overly chaotic.

“Oh, and don’t forget how you won’t be able to escape us out of the car either!” Richie replied. Stan groaned. “It’s gonna be fast food and weird hotels galore!”

“Interesting how you managed to choose the two most unsanitary parts of this all, it’s almost like you’re trying to give Eddie an aneurysm.” Bev quipped back. Richie stuck out his tongue at her, a gesture she promptly returned. Eddie elbowed Richie, barely holding back some sort of rant about grease or black lights or something. Richie just laughed in return.


	2. chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for food and nausea, which are consistent throughout the chapter

“This place is worse than I could have possibly imagined,” Eddie said, staring through the windows of the fast food restaurant they had stopped to eat at for a late dinner, considering they had exhausted their snack supplies throughout the day. Richie looked over to him, glad their friends were all distracted when his gaze lingered for a moment too long.

“You could get a salad,” Ben offered.

“Yeah, one drenched in sugary dressing. I hate these places.” Eddie sighed after his reflexive answer and looked apologetically at Ben. Ben, being the absolute sweetheart he always was, smiled in return.

When Richie thought about it, Eddie definitely had a point. However, the logical part of his brain was never known for working well, so his thoughts merely repeated the words ‘chicken nuggets’ until he stepped up to the counter and ordered a fucking obscene amount of them. He sat at the table where everyone already had their food and most had started eating, smiling smugly as they all looked at his tray with either awe or disgust.

“No way you eat all of that,” Bev said. Several people tried to stop her as she said it, knowing Richie would take it as a challenge.

“I will actually kill you, Richie,” Eddie glared between the nugs and Richie. Richie met his eyes and stared at him as he took his first bite, then his second. Eddie broke the stare to rest his face in his hands, groaning loudly. “You’re fucking dumb.”

“I’m the C.E.O. of decisions with Eddie's stamp of disapproval, baby!” Richie exclaimed, pumping a fist into the air. 

“I’m not going anywhere near you for the next 12 hours,” Eddie said.

“Bold words for a guy sitting next to me. Besides, you love me too much!” Richie countered. He paused for a moment after his last sentence. He said that a lot to all of his friends, but it was different when he said it to Eddie. Definitely because Richie loved him in a more-than-platonic way. Shit. Richie quickly pushed away the thought, shoving another nugget in his mouth.

“I do  _ not _ ,” Eddie replied, picking at his food. “And you’re gonna regret eating a ton of those.”

“I don’t think I will,” Richie smiled.

===

Richie most certainly regretted eating the chicken nuggets. At some point, he had finished them, and it only took about 10 minutes for him to realize the mistake he’d made. He tried to suck it up and act like he fully believed he had made a good decision, and since he had already been going intermittently quiet throughout the whole trip, he didn’t raise that much suspicion. 

They reached a hotel after a little while of driving. The sun had already set and the stars visible through the windows. Once they were in the parking lot, Stan, Bill, and Mike had all gone inside to book the rooms, leaving Richie with the others. Bev and Ben were talking quietly about some new song from a group they both liked. They seemed to be complimenting it, discussing the lyrics and the beat. Eddie was humming near silently, so quiet that Richie wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t been sitting next to him and actively trying to figure out what he was doing. Richie couldn’t recognize the tune, though there could be a number of reasons why. It could be a song Richie didn’t know or a song Eddie was making up as he went along, or the outside noise could be making it hard to decipher.

Stan knocked on the window next to Bev, startling Richie out of his train of thought. Bev opened her door once Stan stepped out of the way. Bill and Mike stood with him.

“We got them. They only had two rooms available since we’re so last minute. We’re gonna be able to all fit, there are two singles, two doubles, and a couch, but…” Mike gestured vaguely. “We’re going to need two people in each double.” Richie suppressed some strange yelp. Knowing the Losers, Richie and Eddie would be one of the pairs. They had always slept near each other in the sleepovers held in Stan’s basement (they often ended up way closer when they woke up than when they fell asleep); Richie supposed he couldn’t fault them for what seemed to be the most obvious choice.

So it wasn’t like he never shared a bed with Eddie before. They just hadn’t shared a bed since Richie realized what he felt for him, and Richie hadn’t expected that to change. He looked around the van. A few gazes fell over him and Eddie in the back seat, but none of them lasted for more than a second.

“Me and Ben can share one,” Bev offered. Ben blushed. Richie felt relief for a moment before his stomach dropped. Ben and Bev had been acting all couple-y for a while, which meant there was probably something more to them offering to be one of the pairs than simple friendship. After all, couples were more likely to willingly offer to sleep together. “You cool with that, Ben?”

“Yeah,” Ben nodded. Everyone else agreed.

“Richie and E-Eddie probably will too, r-right?” Bill asked after a few moments of silence. Suddenly, everyone’s eyes were on them. Richie met Stan’s, who looked over sympathetically. Stan was the only one who knew that Richie was gay and in love with Eddie, since he’d figured out the in-love-with-Eddie part when they were freshmen in high school. Richie sighed quietly and nodded, knowing he’d only make it weird if he rejected the idea. Besides, a very small part of him that Richie tried his best to shove down was excited. Eddie replied with a nod, shifting in his seat in preparation of leaving the van.

The Losers stumbled out of the car, Bill locking it and double-checking that he hadn’t parked like an asshole. They started heading to the rooms, making a decent distance through the halls before Stan tapped on Richie's shoulder and nodded his head in the opposite direction of the rest of the group. He took a step that way, looking relieved when Richie followed him. The soft chattering of the group faded away. Richie looked back to the corner they had disappeared behind.

“I know where the rooms are, so I can get us to them,” Stan said softly, noticing Richie’s worry. Richie would have thought the tone Stan took on was uncharacteristic if it hadn’t been almost the exact one he had used in  _ that  _ conversation, when Richie had come out to him. “Do you think you’re gonna be okay?”

“I can’t tell if I feel nauseous because of the nuggets or the worry. Probably both,” Richie replied, glancing between Stan and the empty hallway. Stan stifled a laugh at the nuggets part, which got Richie to smile. He was glad Stan didn’t bring up how he pretty much avoided the question.

“It’ll be fine, I think. It’s not like you’ve never done this before, and Bill was the one who suggested it so,” Stan said, making a nondescript hand gesture at the end. Richie sighed and sat down on the hotel carpet. Stan crouched beside him.

“What if I, like, throw up on him in my sleep? Or I end up spooning him or some shit?” Richie added the second part more quietly.

“Both can easily be explained without you having to tell too much. I mean, Eddie definitely knows about the chicken nuggets. And you’ve told enough stories about your weird ass dreams,” Stan shrugged. Richie looked at him and the gentle expression on his face. 

Padded footsteps came from down the hall, causing both Stan and Richie to stare into the darkness. Richie wasn’t super willing to admit that he jumped. Eddie appeared around the turn, some tension in his stature dissipating when he spotted them.

“Why are you guys back here?” Eddie asked, continuing to walk towards them. Richie suddenly started to feel bad. After everything that happened with the stupid clown, it was easy to worry when one of the Losers randomly disappeared from sight, and Richie and Stan had stopped without letting anyone know. Stan, being the gift from god he was, replied quickly.

“My shoe got untied,” he said. Richie nearly laughed at how good of an excuse it was. It explained why they were stopped and why they were on the ground, which Richie figured were the two weirdest parts of the whole thing, and it was so generic that Eddie would have no reason to question it.

“We should catch up,” Eddie said after nodding. Richie picked himself up and watched as Stan did the same a second later. The trio started walking down the hall towards the rooms, Stan taking the lead. Richie and Eddie walked side by side behind him. Richie didn’t realize how close they were until his knuckles brushed against Eddie’s wrist. He tried not to flinch back at that and casually stepped farther away. If Eddie noticed it, he didn’t say anything.

Stan knocked at the door to a room after a bit more. Someone said something inside, muffled and distorted through the wall, then the lock clicked and the door opened.

“Good, Eddie found you two!” Ben smiled brightly and stepped out of the way for them to come inside. They were in the room Richie, Eddie, Bev, and Ben would be sleeping in. Bev was laying on the bed to the right, so Richie figured she had already claimed that one for her and Ben. He promptly flopped over on the left bed, careful to avoid falling on Bill, who had seated himself on the edge of the mattress. All of the Losers were gathered in that room, so Richie knew he would have to wait a little longer before he could get some more sleep.

“What happened?” Bev sat up, staring at Richie intensely, something he had learned that she only did when she worried or she was really, really mad. He could distinguish between the two even if he’d never been subject to Bev’s angry glare. He felt another pang of guilt.

“Stan had to stop and tie his shoe,” Richie said, trying not to react to the look. Bev’s glare shifted to a more relieved, friendly gaze.

“D-don’t you always, like, triple-knot y-your laces?” Bill asked Stan.

“We were in the car all day, so I didn’t. And I only double-knot them, asshole,” Stan said nonchalantly, no bite behind the name. They only got to continue talking for another five minutes before Richie yawned, causing a chain of yawns around the room.

“Okay, okay people. That’s enough for one day, we should all get to sleep,” Eddie spoke up. He gazed at Richie. He returned the gaze, hoping he looked properly grateful. The Losers who had to move to the other room to sleep got up and voiced their goodbyes. The door shut behind them.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m gonna brush my teeth and pass out,” Bev said once the room was silent. She sat upright and got to the bathroom attached to the room first, though no one raced her for it.

“I can’t believe I’m going to sleep at a hotel,” Eddie mumbled, once everyone had gotten their turn in the bathroom and they were starting to settle in. Richie doubted it was loud enough for Bev or Ben to hear. He glanced over his shoulder at them. They both wanted to cuddle, it was painfully obvious from an outside perspective, but they had settled for something that barely counted a hand-hold. Richie supposed he couldn’t judge them considering the mess that was his own love-life and turned back to Eddie.

“This is one of the nicer hotels, so it should be fine. The last people in this room were probably middle-aged businessmen, and I’d say there’s only a 30% chance they had a giant business orgy,” Richie replied. He wanted to comfort Eddie, but being an idiot was apparently so ingrained into him that he couldn’t stop himself from making the joke.

“Beep beep, Richie,” Eddie groaned before hesitantly settling into the bed. He had been working on lessening his phobias, so Richie guessed that this was one of the steps he was taking for that. Richie never said it aloud, but he couldn’t help but be really fucking proud of Eddie working on getting himself out of the mindset that Mrs. K. had stuck on him. Richie slipped under the covers next to him. 

The nausea hit him again; this time he knew it was less because of the chicken and more because of how close Eddie was to him. There was less than half a foot between them. Richie could easily kiss him if he wanted to.

“Lights on or off?” Bev asked. Richie noted to thank her for her unintentional impeccable timing. The main ceiling light had already been turned off, but a smaller lamp between the beds that barely lit the room was still on. The silence that followed the question was telling. They were all older and more mature, but there was no shaking the effect the clown had on the entire group. They wanted to be able to sleep in the darkness since they should be more than old enough, but they couldn’t out of lingering fear of It. Or maybe Richie was projecting too much.

“On,” Ben was the first to speak up. Eddie nodded, followed by Richie. Bev returned her hand to her bed. Everyone began to adjust themselves for sleep. Eddie shut his eyes, facing Richie and the lamp behind him. It gently lit up his face, showing his summer-freckles and the soft curls at the ends of his hair that showed up for a few days before he got another haircut. They’d been there for at least a week, Richie realized. He felt something soft bubble to the surface of his emotions and he had to keep himself from ruffling Eddie’s hair.

Richie tried to close his eyes again, but as soon as the soft feeling dissipated, the nausea came back. He settled for observing Eddie again, tired enough that he didn’t think about how creepy that would be like he did every time he considered it. When the nausea didn’t subside after a further 10 minutes, he rolled out of the covers as slowly as he could, trying not to wake Eddie. He settled in the bathroom, staring at the toilet.

After a while he heard a knock at the door. He hummed loudly enough for it to pass through the door. “Is it okay if I come in?” Eddie asked quietly. Richie hummed again. The door creaked open and Eddie slipped in, leaning against the wall across from Richie. “Sorry, you were in here for a long time and I got worried.”

“Like… how long?” Richie wasn’t entirely sure if he wanted an answer.

“I think 20 minutes,” Eddie said. Richie grimaced. “Are you okay?”

“I feel like I’m gonna throw up,” Richie responded, not sure what he could add. His options were either confess that he got nervous because of how close they were, admit that Eddie was right about the nuggets, or make a joke, and none of those would work. With the first option, he might as well be screaming that he’d been in love with Eddie since they were eleven. The second would seem weird since Richie never admitted he was wrong, especially about things as unimportant as food. The third seemed the best, but Richie’s brain refused to work with him and he couldn’t come up with anything. So, he left it at that.

“Do you want me to stay with you?” Eddie asked. Richie nodded quickly, seemingly forgetting that being too close to Eddie was what had him on the bathroom floor in the first place. 

At some point, Richie fell asleep there and Eddie had to wake him up and drag him back to the bed. He barely had enough time to register Eddie lying down before he was passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If this is kinda a mess, it's because I finally sat down and planned this fic out halfway through writing this chapter.  
> Not-so-coincidentally, I'm pretty sure this is going to have 7 chapters but there are no guarantees; I'm so used to writing impulsively I don't know how I'm going to work with an outline. We'll have to see! I might do a part 2 too, since this fic is going to have a concept that I really want to write, but it's not going to go too far into it. If I do, I want to give it a name from Head Over Heels by Tears for Fears because it gives off good vibes.  
> Thanks for reading through the mess that is my end notes, and thank you for reading the fic! 
> 
> twitter- @tfortrashmouth, same as ao3


	3. chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning for food

Richie woke up in the still-dark room. He kept his eyes shut for a moment, trying to remember what had been happening in his dream. It was already escaping him.

After spending a while on his dream, Richie’s focus shifted to the real world. More specifically, the gentle warmth he felt on his arm and around his back. Slowly, his eyes blinked open and he was met with the soft fabric of a t-shirt on his cheek. Richie shifted to get a better look around the room, to discover where the warmth was coming from. Nearly immediately, he found himself cuddled up to Eddie, his arm draped across Eddie’s stomach and Eddie’s arm on his back, holding him close.

Richie paused for a moment. This had been what he was dreading, accidentally snuggling up to Eddie in his sleep, potentially revealing everything he felt, but everything about this was so surprisingly okay. Better than okay, really. He felt genuine comfort deep inside of himself. There was something so calming about watching the rhythmic rising and falling of Eddie’s chest. 

Richie was snapped from his soft, sleepy thoughts when Eddie shifted. For a moment, Richie was scared that he would wake up and find them together, but Eddie merely moved his head to lean farther to one side. Still, reality sunk in and Richie had to maneuver his way out of the embrace. The comfort seeped away as Richie felt the cool air where he had been touching Eddie. 

Trying to force the disappointment back into the deepest depths of his mind, Richie rolled onto his side and stared at the near-shapeless blobs around the room. The darkness and his lack of glasses made it impossible to make anything out. Richie shut his eyes again and forced himself into a far less pleasant sleep.

===

The next time Richie woke up, sunlight streamed in through the windows. Eddie’s hand was on his shoulder, shaking him awake. Richie blinked up at Eddie’s form as he searched the bedside table for his glasses. He grabbed them as soon as he felt them and shoved them onto his face, trying not to let his breath hitch when he saw Eddie’s messy hair and pajamas. It wasn’t like Richie didn’t know that Eddie was fucking stunning in the mornings, he just hadn’t had the time to prepare for it that time.

“Get up, dipshit. We’re leaving,” Eddie said. Richie smiled like an idiot.

“Aye aye cap’n!” he grinned even harder.

“Can you not yell first thing in the morning? I’ll never understand how you get so much energy out of fucking nowhere,” Eddie groaned.

“Didn’t you know? I run on a constant stream of adrenaline,” Richie said, finally swinging his feet over the side of the bed. He stood up, stifling a laugh when he saw the height difference between Eddie and himself.

“That’s definitely not how adrenaline works,” Eddie huffed, stepping back and grabbing his backpack. “And I can see you laughing at how much taller you are than me.”

Eddie pointing it out was the final straw, as it so often was. Richie fell back onto the bed as giggles tore through his body. Richie stayed there for a minute after the laughter stopped, standing up with one swift movement as soon as he wiped the tears from his eyes. He grabbed the first shirt and pair of pants he could reach from his bag and stumbled into the bathroom to change. He emerged quickly and picked up his suitcase and backpack.

Bev led the way to the main room of the hotel, where Stan, Bill, and Mike already sat on the sofas. Bill was sitting in silence, watching Stan and Mike as they talked. 

“You’re always the first to take the worst spot or something. I’m not gonna let you do that over and over again,” Stan said, sounding about as exasperated as he ever did without actually being mad. The trio looked up when Richie cleared his throat.

“Lover’s quarrel?” Richie asked.

“Shut the fuck up, Richie,” Stan replied. “Mike wanted to take the couch last night, and we all know that the couch is the worst spot, so I got it before he could do his self-sacrifice thing again.”

“I just want to know how it’s the worst spot,” Mike said.

“You were the tallest one in that room, Mike. It’s a couch. It’s not meant to be slept on in the first place, but it’s especially not meant to be slept on by anyone over 5’8.” The two went back and forth until Bill eventually spoke up, saying they should get breakfast and continue on their drive.

“I’ll pick s-something up, so we don’t have to all pile in the v-van more than necessary,” Bill said as he backed out of the room. A few Losers shouted goodbye before he closed the front door behind him.

“How did you all sleep?” Ben asked, glancing around with a smile. 

“Better than ever,” Bev said as she slung her arm around Ben’s shoulders. His cheeks reddened.

Richie thought about Ben’s question. He could give two very different answers and they would be equally true.

“It was lonely, without Mrs. K’s company,” Richie said somberly, bracing himself just as Eddie elbowed him in the side. He broke into a smile. “At least I had dear Benverly and Eddie!” Richie took care to say the ship name before Eddie’s and to say it in a sarcastic enough tone that no one would think about it more than they had to.

Soon, Richie spotted Bill outside of the window and waved at him exaggeratedly. The rest of the group took notice and turned to Bill as soon as he was back in the lobby.

“No eating in h-here, hotel rules,” Bill said, door still propped open. “Come out here.” The six stood and followed Bill like ducklings, stopping at the van in the parking lot. Bill opened the passenger seat door and let each of them grab their food. Mike sat in the seat once everyone had taken theirs and Bill made his way to the driver’s side. Stan sat in the back row. Bev and Ben made their way over to a bench, easily in view and shouting distance.

Richie settled onto the sidewalk a few feet to the left of the van. Eddie followed him and plopped down next to him.

“What did you get?” Eddie asked, leaning over to look at the wrapper.

“Bacon, egg, and cheese bagel,” Richie shrugged. “You?”

“Fruit salad,” Eddie said.

“Always the health man,” Richie looked at Eddie a little closer. He noticed disappointment in Eddie’s face. “You want half of mine?”

“Are you sure?” Eddie asked, but he perked up a bit.

“Hell yeah! I can’t eat all of this shit, I didn’t realize that it would be so fucking big.”

“You’re like a human garbage disposal, Richie. I have no doubt you could finish that easily,” Eddie laughed, but the furrow in his brow made the unspoken  _ ‘except after last night’  _ palpable. Richie handed Eddie his half and took a bite of his own, gladly accepting when Eddie offered to share his fruit salad, too.

The food was gone quickly. As soon as Richie took his last bite, he lay back on the sidewalk and stared at the sky. He hadn’t seen any passerby earlier so he wouldn’t be too much of a nuisance, not that that would have stopped him. Eddie stayed sat where he was, and Richie didn’t waste the opportunity to observe the glow around him from the sun.

At some point, Eddie stood up and wandered off. Richie didn’t follow him, instead returning to looking at the clouds, now that they were again the most eye-catching in his field of vision. He ignored the loss he felt in his chest, shielding his eyes from the sun. He zoned out, his thoughts very intentionally limited to the shapes of the clouds and the sounds of cars going by on the road next to the parking lot.

He was jolted out of it when someone softly kicked his leg. He sat up quickly.

“We’re heading out,” Bev said, leaning over and offering her hand to help Richie stand up. He accepted and didn’t let go until they got to the car. “Hey, Richie, are you okay?”

“What?” Richie asked. He shouldn’t have been surprised, but he was totally caught off guard.

“Sorry, it’s just… you’re acting differently, and yesterday I thought it was just because you were tired, but I don’t think that’s it today,” Bev explained, gesturing vaguely with her hands. Richie looked at her again, at the concerned look on her face. He thought about what the hell he could tell her. Something in him said to tell her his secret, that he had held it in long enough and that he could trust her. And he went with it, as impulsive as it was.

“I, uh. Can I tell you something?” Richie said. He nearly groaned at the stumble. For someone who constantly acted confident, he really was a mess in any sort of serious situation. Bev nodded, staying silent. “I’m gay.” There was a brief pause before a smile stretched out on Bev’s face.

“I’m glad you trusted me enough to tell me. I love you, honey,” Bev said. She stepped forward and hugged him. Richie returned the hug and just stood there for a moment before he remembered that the others were waiting.

“I love you too,” He replied, and he slid open the door and sat down in the back seat. Stan shot him a knowing look.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's kinda short, sorry! The next chapter probably will be too, but chapter 5 should be longer :]


	4. chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for nondescript mentions of homophobic violence

Richie felt his legs sticking to the leather of his seat, the sun beating down on his skin through the window. He groaned and looked around the van, trying to see if anyone else looked as uncomfortable as he felt. The other Losers were talking to each other or humming or staring out of the window as if nothing was wrong.

“Okay, is it just me or is it hot as shit in this car?” Richie spoke up.

“It’s just you,” Eddie replied. He was sitting back with a book, apparently enjoying the quiet while it lasted.

“At least you’re finally admitting that I’m hot” Richie said, smirking and ignoring the pining voice in the back of his head.

“Fuck off, you’re not. You’re just loud,” Eddie said, his eye roll seeping into his tone. Richie looked at him for a moment, nearly managing to convince himself that Eddie was blushing.

“It’s not my fault it’s a bajillion degrees out, Eds! I’m melting here, it’s the wicked witch of the west without the water!” Richie retorted after a beat.

“That’s not my name! And you’re sweating at the most, at least try to make your lies believable.”

“Deceit! Deception!” Richie cried, trying his best to sound like a character in a Shakespeare play. He couldn’t really tell if it worked, just that it annoyed Eddie in the way that he wasn’t really irritated, he just would never admit aloud that he found it funny. Richie supposed that would always be far better than getting the voice right.

“If you kids k-keep bickering, we’ll have to turn this c-car around,” Bill said from the driver’s seat. It sounded half-joking, half-serious and it got giggles from around the van.

Richie finally sat back, trying not to flinch when his arms made contact with the near-burning leather. He failed to keep a small hiss entirely contained. Eddie looked over at him, vague concern on his face. Richie just shrugged, hoping he wouldn’t ask about it. Eddie turned back to his book, though he still seemed a bit worried.

The drive went on as the sun made its way up, eventually starting on the way down. Richie focused mainly on the music playing in the background and watched the progress Eddie made in the novel. When Eddie opened it that morning and began reading, he only seemed to be a few pages in. Now, he was nearly half-way through it. Eddie’s attention was fully back on the book, but he looked up occasionally, sometimes to look out the window and sometimes to look at the other Losers. Richie made a dumb face whenever Eddie made eye contact with him, often leading to stifled laughter and Eddie quickly returning to the words on the pages.

When the sun started to set, Bill pulled into the parking lot of another hotel. That time, he went inside alone to get them rooms. Richie watched him go in through the front doors, then he stared to the sky. It was a bright orangey-pink, with a few matching clouds floating at random. It was pretty, but Richie could never really focus on pretty things for that long.  _ With one exception,  _ he thought. He struggled to keep a straight face, still facing the window and hoping no one could see him. 

Bill came back soon after with a small bundle of keys in one hand.

“We got three r-rooms, and they have enough beds for everyone t-to get their own this time,” Bill explained. “So we just need two gr-groups of two and one of th-three.”

Again, Bev was the first to offer to sleep in the same room as Ben. He agreed immediately, though no one thought he wouldn’t.

“I can take the three group with Richie and Eddie,” Stan offered after a moment of silence. Richie looked at him, surprised that he would willingly sleep anywhere near Richie. And that he brought Eddie into the group, but Richie didn’t want to think about that too much. Stan looked apologetically at Richie, probably for sticking him in a room with his crush all night again, before turning to Bill and Mike knowingly. Richie recognized that look, it was the one Stan shot him whenever Richie said or did something a little too close to romantic with Eddie for comfort. For a moment, he wondered if Bill and Mike were like him. It would make a lot of things make more sense, but Richie stopped the train of thought. It wasn’t his business, and if he was right they would tell him when they were ready. Besides, it wasn’t likely to be true.

The seven of them piled into the lobby of the hotel and dropped their luggage off in their rooms before meeting up again in the parking lot at Mike’s request.

“I figured, no one’s going to bed at 7:30 p.m., right? So we could go out and look around town and try to find something to do for a while,” Mike said. Everyone agreed with him quickly, glad to spend more time together.

Mike led the way towards the town, walking down the empty streets in front of the other six Losers. While there was no one else on the sidewalks, Richie could see plenty of people having fun through the windows on the storefronts. Richie paused when he saw two men in front of a bookstore, talking and laughing. They looked familiar, but Richie couldn’t place them. His curiosity was getting to him.

“Maybe we could ask some locals what there is to do around here,” Richie said, staring intently at the pair.

“Yeah, but the only people around are those guys and I doubt they want us to annoy them,” Bev replied. Richie smirked and shoved past his friends, containing a laugh when he heard Bev sigh. He walked up to the men as casually as he could.

“Hey, sorry to bother you, but my friends and I are staying here for the night and we have literally no clue what we can do! So if you have the time and the suggestions, I’m all ears,” Richie smiled more genuinely at the pair. The shorter of the two hummed thoughtfully and nearly started to speak when Richie felt someone elbow him.

“Real smooth, Tozier,” Bev said, standing right next to him. The rest of their group stood a few feet away. “I just told you not to bother them. Sorry about him, by the way.”

“One, I am smooth. And two, you didn’t tell me not to, you just said that I shouldn’t. There’s a difference. Now, this kind gentleman was about to say something before you so rudely interrupted us,” Richie stuck his tongue out at Bev who reflexively flipped him off.

“It’s alright, we’re kind of used to kids bothering us,” the taller guy replied after the other stayed silent for a few moments, a puzzled look on his face. “I’m Don, and the ‘kind gentleman’ is Adrian.”

Richie thought for a moment, his mind lingering on the names. Don and Adrian, where had he heard of them before? Something clicked after a moment, the pieces fitting together.

“Wait, no shit? I knew you guys looked familiar!” Richie said. He was met with curious stares from everyone except Adrian, who seemed to be trying to figure it out with less success than Richie. Maybe they had seen each other enough times for Richie to leave some sort of memory.

“We can’t read your mind, Rich. You have to explain what you mean,” Stan said, hiding his interest behind his usual grumpy demeanor.

“You seriously haven’t realized?” The group collectively shook their heads. “Guys. We’re all from the same hometown.” Richie made sure to choose his words there carefully. He knew about Don and Adrian, but mainly because of the horrible shit that happened to them. Sure, he had seen them around town occasionally, but he wouldn’t have known their names if not for it. Everyone stared at him for a moment before Adrian broke the silence, face shifting between recognition and mostly masked unease.

“Wait, you had the misfortune of living in the shithole that is Derry too?” He said. Richie noticed that his leg started to bounce nervously, and he couldn’t blame him. Richie knew that he would never do something like what happened to them, but Adrian had no way of being sure. He tried to look at him as kindly as possible while stepping back, giving them plenty of space in an attempt prove that he wasn’t going to try and fuck with them too. When the strained expression remained intact, Richie decided he had to say something, hopefully something comforting.

“Yeah, it’s actually the worst. It’s like the tiniest, dumbest, most bigoted town I can think off,” Richie groaned. He almost felt relieved, finally putting some of his grievances with Derry into words. He vaguely heard Adrian release a breath, looking a bit more comfortable.

“Ade, you probably shouldn't swear in front of literal children” Don replied, seemingly more at ease as well.

“What, that one did it first!” Adrian replied, gesturing towards Richie. They worked well together, Richie thought. They seemed to know how to make the other feel better easily.

“That one. I’ve heard it all now. The great Trashmouth, that one?” Richie joked, lifting his hand up to his forehead to feign offense as ridiculously as possible.

“His name is Richie,” Ben supplied helpfully, voice sweet as always. “He’s not really bothered, don’t worry.”

“Ben, you’ve blown my cover!” Richie cried, smiling at Ben in spite of himself.

“You know, you had a purpose to starting this whole conversation,” Mike chimed in, waving his hand towards the buildings around them. Richie nodded and turned back to Adrian, waiting to see if he would say what he meant to earlier.

“There’s an arcade down the street that’s pretty good. This bookstore’s nice too, but I can’t imagine all of you having any fun there. It’s pretty boring if you’re the loud type,” Adrian said, bumping his shoulder gently into Don’s. “You got anything?”

“Not that I can think of,” Don replied after a moment of thought. “The arcade’s your best bet.”

“Alright, thank you!” Mike said, asking for directions and quickly beginning the trek once he knew where they were going. Richie lingered for a bit, until his friends were out of earshot if he talked quietly.

“I’m sorry if I freaked you out,” he spoke once he was sure the Losers were far enough ahead. “I promise I didn’t mean to, I just talk a lot and don’t think nearly enough beforehand.”

“Hey, don’t worry. I do the same thing,” Adrian responded.

“Thanks. You two enjoy your… date? I think?” Richie cringed at the awkwardness in his words. Adrian, on the other hand, laughed loudly while Don held in a chuckle.

“We will. Go have fun with your friends, kid,” Don said, waving towards the group of teens who had already made decent distance. Richie nodded and practically beamed at the two before sprinting towards the Losers. Eddie looked at him curiously once he stopped next to him, out of breath.

“Nice guys,” Richie managed to say between gulps of air. Eddie looked almost surprised, but he settled into a happy expression, humming in agreement.

===

The arcade, while fun, didn’t blow Richie’s mind or anything. He could easily understand why Adrian would like it, but Richie had found himself spending most of his time focusing on the way the neon lights danced on Eddie’s skin. Richie found himself laughing at the thought that maybe watching the lights on an attractive guy was exactly why Adrian liked it. He barely noticed a few glances on him before they quickly turned away. The Losers had come to learn that Richie often got lost in his own thoughts, laughing at whatever he would come up with. There was a lull in the conversation around him in the hotel lobby, so Richie took the opportunity to pester Bill.

“Hey Big Bill, can we get a hint about where we’re going? Or are we gonna continue to drive around for days without a clue,” Richie asked. Bill scrunched up his nose before talking.

“It’ll only be a f-few more hours of driving. Really, this trip sh-should have taken three or four hours, we just deci-cided to draw it out so we could spend more time as a group,” Bill answered. “As for a hint, I g-guess… you’ll see a lot of fields before w-we get there.”

“What kind of a hint is that?” Richie cried. Bill laughed.

“The best k-kind you’re gonna get. Now, everyone should g-go the fuck to sleep, it’s g-getting late,” Bill replied. A few voices sleepily agreed with him, and everyone shuffled to their rooms. Richie got ready for bed, quietly watching Eddie do so as well. He, Eddie, and Stan all settled in their individual beds. Richie tried not to think about how much less warm it was there than it had been the night before, and he pushed away wishes to be close to Eddie yet again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't been using the end notes to talk about the story stuff in this fic, but I really want to talk about Don and Adrian so!  
> I want to talk about how they're there. I kinda mashed together the timelines of the movies and the book, so the kids fought It for the first time in 1989 and Don and Adrian's stuff happened in 1985. Though, now that I think about it, I don't know how easy it is to picture this fic taking place in 1994. Regardless, because of the timeline shift, there was no Pennywise under the bridge and Adrian was able to survive because of that. Not without trauma and a lot of injuries, but he's alive and doing well. Adding them to this chapter was, admittedly, really impulsive but I think it fits into the story well enough. Besides, I've found myself growing more and more attached to them so I'm really glad to write them, even if I'm not super familiar with their characters.  
> Side note, this chapter took a while to publish because I got really caught up in another fic. Speaking of that, I highly recommend the Listen to Me series by Lerena here on ao3! It's incredibly well-written, but it also deals with extremely heavy topics so you should make sure you're prepared for it if you read. I'm currently about 24 chapters into Home and I've been struggling to put it down, which lead to this chapter being late.  
> Anyway, it's 4 am and I really want to get this posted so! I hope you enjoyed, thank you for reading this fic + my notes!
> 
> twitter - @tfortrashmouth, same as ao3


	5. chapter 5

Richie realized that the Losers were close to their final destination a while before Bill decided to say anything about it. Everytime he looked out of his window, he saw green grass with mixed wildflowers and various crops scattered throughout the landscape. Fields, just like Bill said there would be. After Richie noticed that, he started to see other hints that they were near. Like Mike folding up his map and placing it on the dashboard with the others without moving to grab a different one like he had been throughout the trip, and Bill not noticing or not minding the lack of directions, much like he knew where he was going. Richie started to get restless, having figured out that they were almost there.

“Hey, your leg is bouncing. What’s up?” Eddie asked from beside him, closing his book and shoving it off to the side. Richie looked at his leg, where he was indeed shaking it before leaning closer to Eddie.

“We’re almost there,” Richie said quietly

“Oh, and how do you know that?” Eddie said, almost teasingly but he sounded sincere enough for Richie to want to give him a genuine answer.

“Bill said there would be fields. And Mike’s not holding a map anymore,” Richie explained quickly. 

Eddie hummed thoughtfully, staring past Richie and through the window before nodding slightly. Richie barely caught himself watching the focused expression on Eddie’s face before he turned back to him.

“It seems like you’re right. For once,” Eddie said. Richie gasped jokingly, letting a smile creep onto his face when Eddie laughed. He indulgently allowed himself to really listen to Eddie’s chuckle for a bit, taking in and appreciating the sound.

After a few more minutes passed, Bill slowed the van and pulled over to the side of the road, just in front of a dirt path. Richie took a moment to look around outside. On one side of the road, there was a large open meadow with some animal pens off to the right and a small house even further beyond that. On the other, the side Bill had parked the van on, there was an expanse of grass and flowers with a path leading to a two story house with white siding, a brick chimney, and pale blue curtains curtains in the large windows. Bill cleared his throat, grabbing everyone’s attention.

“We’re h-h-here,” Bill said, turning and opening his door. Everyone stumbled out of the car, heading down the path as Bill led them to the door of the two story house. He grabbed a key out of his pocket, fiddling with the lock until the front door swung open. They piled into the front room after him.

“So, did we head all the way out here to break into a farmhouse?” Richie asked, smiling light-heartedly when Bill groaned into his hand.

“I’ll explain e-everything s-s-soon, I promise. Just s-settle in u-un-un… before th-that?” Bill said. Richie immediately sent him a thumbs up. He wasn’t a big enough asshole to mess with him when Bill was so obviously stressed out; it had been a while since he had last had to give up on a word and choose a new one because of his stutter. Richie was worried for a moment, but he saw Mike squeeze Bill’s shoulder and say something quietly so Richie figured he would be fine.

He decided to do as Bill had asked of the group, looking around the room he found himself in. Behind him was the front door with a small bench next to it for taking off your shoes. There was a staircase tucked behind a wall with black-and-white photographs lining the railing. A set of beige couches and chairs against the wall, all with various brightly-coloured pillows and throws decorating them. Farther away there were kitchen cabinets and appliances and a large white dinner table next to that.

Richie sat carefully on one of the chairs, not wanting to disturb the pink and yellow knitted blanket resting on the back. Bev sat next to him on the couch, not showing nearly as much concern for the two small pillows behind her. The others joined them at their own pace. Ben settled next to Bev after a few minutes and Stan took the other end of the couch. Eddie made his way onto the chair beside Richie’s, pointing at the picture on the coffee table. It was of Bill when he was younger on a beach, looking up at the camera joyfully.

“Not some stranger’s house, noted,” Richie mumbled.

“Bill did have a key, after all,” Eddie replied. The pair quieted when Mike sat in the loveseat, shortly followed by Bill.

“Alright,” Bill said, gaining everyone’s attention. “Th-this is my grandparent’s house. But since I-I’m going to b-be eighteen in a few mon-m-months and they d-don’t want to take ca-care of such a b-big house, they’re going to gi-give it to me.”

Richie nodded encouragingly. Bill took a few deep breaths and repeated a phrase under his breath a few times, one that Richie vaguely recognized as something Bill said to train his stutter. After a few more moments, Bill continued;

“The city is-isn’t far from here, it’s an e-easy drive and there’s a t-tr-train station close b-by. I was thinking, if anyone w-wan-wanted to, we could make this th-the Loser’s house.” The room filled with a surprised silence. “There're sev-seven bedr-rooms, and g-goo-good schools nearby… so if anyb-body wants t-to, we could m-move in h-here.”

Richie froze, taking his time to process everything Bill had said. A Loser’s house, just for the seven of them? He thought about it, wondering what it would be like to live in a house with all of his best friends. He could finally get away from Derry and all the dangers and bad memories it held. He could easily bother any of the Losers, and could run his ideas by Bev or Stan or Mike first instead of his mom (As sweet as she was, she didn’t always understand his humor.). He could eat with the Losers and hang out with them all the time. He could wake up and have the first person he sees be Eddie when he leaves his room some mornings and go to sleep and have the last person he sees in the day be Eddie, too. He and Eddie could talk late into the night like they would when Richie sneaks in through Eddie’s bedroom window, careful not to be caught by Sonia. They could share morning coffee and complain about classmates or coworkers or whatever made sense in the moment.

To the surprise of nearly everyone in the room, Eddie was the first to speak up on the idea.

“Fuck it, I want that,” he breathed, quiet but near-deafening in the silence. Eddie looked around, noticing a few bewildered stares. “I’ve dealt with living with my mother for long enough and if I can live with you guys instead, even if it’s not all of you, I want that. If we can figure out a plan for school and careers, then I’m all in.”

“Me too,” Richie said as soon as he was sure Eddie had finished. He didn’t have anything else to add to his statement aloud, but it felt right to say. Eddie sent him a genuine smile, which he returned gleefully. Richie continued to watch Eddie as a small chorus of yes’s and alright’s rang around the room. Bill laughed, relieved.

“Sorry, I g-got kinda nervous about all th-this, since it’s a b-big suggestion. And Eddie, about school and jobs, Mike and I did some re-research on that. We think we have a few options for everybody, so whoever c-considers actually moving out here can listen to th-those,” Bill explained. He looked more and more comfortable the longer he talked.

It was Ben who suggested that they all look around the home to get used to the layout a while, and Stan who said they should assign bedrooms at least for the night to prevent any fights. Bill led them on a short tour so they would know the basics of the home and at the end, the majority of the seven stood around to discuss who should take what room. Richie stood off to the side, more watching Eddie debate everyone’s placement than listen to a single word being said.

Eventually, Stan stood and started pointing to doors and telling everyone which room was theirs and that they could swap if they wanted to. On the left wall, Ben and Bev. On the back wall, Mike, Bill, and Stan. And on the right wall, Richie and Eddie. The group of them grabbed their luggage, hauling it up to their individual rooms. Once Richie had thrown his backpack and suitcase in the corner, he made himself comfortable on the bed and stared out of the window in his room.

He relaxed for a while, ignoring the view of the outside world until the sun started to dip in the sky and suddenly the idea of staying inside for the sunset seemed impossible to him. He stood from the bed and left the room. He didn’t see any of the Losers on his way out. He slipped out of the back door and shut it behind him, walking a short distance into the grass behind the house.

Richie stopped when the dirt started to slope down into a hill and he sat on the edge of the flat-ish ground. The view of the sunset was unobstructed, so he could easily see the beginnings of various hues in the sky. Mindlessly, he twirled some grass next to his legs and watched as the sun progressed in its arch and as the colours became more saturated. For a while, he tried to think about the sky and the sun but he realized it was a fruitless effort after his thoughts repeatedly returned to a single place: Eddie. 

Whether it be his hair or his freckles or the way he laughed earlier, Richie couldn’t stop thinking about Eddie. Sometimes, it was something that could pass off as thinking about his friend. Wondering when they would next see a movie, or if he had made further progress in reading that novel. Other times, it wouldn’t be so easy. Thinking about how he was always so pretty, about how brave he was all the time but especially when he gladly accepted the offer to move out of his mother’s house out to the country with them, about how right it felt when Richie woke up the night that they shared that bed and they ended up cuddling. That smile he sent Richie after Richie agreed to Bill’s plan. The faint blush he got when Richie got too close or when he used specific pet names in a bit. The lightning quick comebacks that came just as easily as Eddie’s kind voice if Richie showed signs of something being wrong. To Richie, it was obvious. He loved Eddie, more than anything. Of course, he loved the Losers and his parents and everything, but none of them came close to Eddie.

“That seat taken?” a voice came from behind. 

As soon as Richie was snapped from his thoughts, he picked up on footsteps approaching him. He noticed it had gotten dark out, the last slivers of the sun’s light gone over the horizon, the only lights coming from the stars and the house. Richie only turned his head when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. It was, of course, Eddie sitting down next to him, slowly offering a jacket to him. Richie took it from him and sent him a wobbly smile and slipped the jacket on. He hadn’t realized that it was starting to get cold out.

“Hey, Eddie Spaghetti,” Richie said, earning a sigh from Eddie.

“You’re never gonna give up on that one, are you,” Eddie replied.

Richie considered for a moment. “Nope,” he said, popping the p. 

“You’ve been out here for a while, you know,” Eddie said. Richie froze for a moment when he scooted closer, quickly forcing his muscles to relax.

“Yeah, I’ve been thinking,” Richie said.

“You can do that? Seriously, didn’t think you had it in you,” Eddie laughed quietly at his own response. Richie stared at him, taking in his beauty for what felt like the millionth time in the past week.

“Wow, I try to be serious for once and this is the thanks I get?” Richie quipped back.

“Sorry, just… are you okay?” Eddie asked. He turned to face Richie, and for once, Richie let one specific impulse that had been eating away at him take over.

Gently as he could, Richie cupped Eddie’s cheek in one hand and he began to lean in. He paused for a moment to let Eddie push him away if he wanted to, but Eddie just leaned into the touch and moved forward a bit on his own. They met somewhere in the middle. Eddie’s hand found its way into Richie’s hair, tangling itself into the locks at the base of his neck. Richie moved in closer, relishing in the warmth of Eddie’s lips on his, of his hand on Eddie’s shoulder, of Eddie’s on his arm. They stayed entwined like that until Richie had to pull back to catch his breath, Eddie doing the same. Richie let himself topple over onto the grass, pulling Eddie down with him.

They adjusted themselves until Eddie lay on his back with Richie’s head resting on his chest, much like the night in that hotel room. Except now, they were both awake and now, their hands were clasped together and Richie basked in the glory of it.

“Okay,” Eddie spoke after a few moments. “So that was-”

“Eds, I love you,” Richie interrupted. Eddie fell silent again, but he kept Richie’s hand in his so Richie didn’t feel the need to worry.

“I love you too, Rich,” Eddie responded quietly, nearly whispering. Richie shifted to see a large, dumb smile on Eddie’s face, so he rolled over and pressed his lips against Eddie’s again.

“I feel like I’m gonna explode,” Richie smiled as he pulled back again.

“Christ, Richie, don’t. We just found out we love each other,” Eddie replied, his own expression brightening impossibly more on the word ‘love’.

“Does this mean we’re boyfriends? Like, dating boyfriends?” Richie asked.

“Yeah, I think it does… boyfriend,” Eddie said.

“Oh my god, this is incredible. I can annoy my boyfriend and my best friend simultaneously and I don’t even have to try!” Richie exclaimed, laughing harder when Eddie simply rolled his eyes. “Do what you want, you’re just proving my point.”

“Yeah, yeah. We should probably go to bed,” Eddie said, sitting up and pushing himself up until he was standing. “It’s like, actually late.”

He offered his hand to Richie to help him up, and didn’t let it go as they walked through the grass. They made their way through the house as though they’d done exactly this tons of times before. They only stopped when they approached their bedroom doors.

“I just want to say, I’m not letting go of your hand for anything,” Richie whispered, leaning down slightly so Eddie could hear him better.

“Good, I don’t want you to,” Eddie said. “But do you… do you want to share a room again?” Richie beamed at the deep pink on Eddie’s cheeks.

“There’s literally nothing I want more,” Richie replied. “Mine or yours?”

“Yours, the view is better and I don’t trust Bill not to barge into my room in the middle of the night with some revelation or something,” Eddie sighed.

“Wait, that sounds intentional. Eddie, did you intentionally give me the room with a better view?” Richie teased, smiling idiotically while Eddie groaned.

“That was a few hours ago, I was still hopelessly pining,” Eddie explained. “Why are we still out here? The plan was to go to bed.”

“It’s way too easy to argue with you, Eduardo,” Richie said.

“God, I hate you, you know that?” Eddie replied, finally moving and opening the door to Richie’s room. He stepped in first, waiting until Richie made his way in to close the door.

“I know it better than anyone,” Richie smiled and flopped over onto his bed, making grabby hands.

“Nope, you still have to get pajamas. I’m gonna go change into my own, I’ll see you in a second,” Eddie said, backing out of the room with a small wave. Richie returned it and sighed into the empty room, quickly throwing on an old graphic tee and some soft shorts. After a minute, there was a quiet knock at the door and Richie immediately ran to swing it open and wrap Eddie into a hug. 

“Oh- Richie, you’re like a dog with separation anxiety. It’s been a minute. A singular minute,” Eddie complained, but there was no edge in his voice. 

“Get used to it, you’re stuck with me,” Richie responded.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing, you loser.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one took a while but, may i say, i think it was worth it.  
> two very big events in one chapter! i actually really like how The scene turned out, which is really cool considering i wrote it at like 6 am. it finally happened! things are moving!  
> also, side note, but this is the first thing that i've ever written that surpassed 10k words and i'm proud of that :] pog :]  
> thank you for reading, lovelies!


End file.
